Don’t let the relative size of the pictures fool you; the LEGO Empire State Building is AT LEAST as tall as LEGO Big Ben, and both are even taller in real life!
Building these two in my living room yesterday naturally begged the question: which is BETTER? I think this will start off a series on my blog.
Only the most important criteria have been chosen to determine this. Here we go:
HEIGHT: Well, here’s something pretty objective. The tower that is erroneously named “Big Ben” (BB is the bell inside the clock tower) is 96 metres, or just over 300 feet. The ESB is 1250 feet tall…and that is BEFORE you include the radio antenna! WINNER ESB
ARCHITECTURE STYLE: “Big Ben” is neo-gothic (right???). ESB is Art Deco. Both are pretty iconic. WINNER EVERYBODY
BUILDING CHALLENGES: The bell, “Big Ben”, cracked and had to be lifted horizontally up the tower shaft. That’s pretty cool. But it did take over a decade to build, which was merely like standard and stuff for the 1850s. The Empire State Building’s native American construction crew had to withstand crazy winds and vertigo and they still built it in 40 days. The ESB still ranks as a terrific achievement in swift construction. WINNER ESB
FUNCTION: “Big Ben” tells the time. The ESB is…usually not at capacity. It holds offices and stuff. And a terrible Kevin Bacon “3d experience”. However, it was once thought to be able to serve as a landing site for blimps. WINNER BB
GETTING TO THE TOP: Only UK nationals are allowed inside “Big Ben.” Only unsuspecting tourists are allowed inside the ESB, where they are subjected to high ticket prices and a terrible Kevin Bacon “3d experience”. WINNER NOBODY
HISTORY: The ESB was hit by a plane and stayed upright. It changes colors during the year. I don’t know much about the history of BB and I’m not even going to use wikipedia. My ignorance = WINNER EVERYBODY
BEST MOVIE MOMENT: For the ESB, has to be King Kong, right? He’s climbed to the top of the ESB in two different movies. What movies even feature “Big Ben”? Like as a “character”? Probably quite a few, but off the top of my head I can only think of “The Great Mouse Detective”, when Professor Ratigan and Basil of Baker Street are hanging off the clock hands. Also, the animated gears inside look pretty cool too. I guess animals like to be imperiled atop fancy buildings. WINNER EVERYBODY
PROXIMITY TO 12 DOVER DRIVE: 200 miles vs like 3000 miles. WINNER ESB
Well, that’s everything important. The Empire State Building wins, sort of, but don’t take my word for it. Vote in the poll!
Culture Time 